Our Walk Along the Via Podiensis (GR 65)

Lessons in Patience on GR65 Via Podiensis Camino Pilgrimage We had planned to get up at 5:30 and leave by 6:00 to avoid some of the heat of the day, but at 5:30 AM it was pouring rain, so we decided to sleep an extra hour and see if the weather cleared up.  Luckily by 6:30 AM, it had, and we were able to set out after consuming our chocolate croissants and the instant coffee we had purchased last night. As we set out the cloud cover provided some much appreciated relief from the sun.  It was a pleasant walk down county lanes, without too many ups and downs.   Natural Beauty along GR 65 We again noticed that the GR system in France tends to take you up to the edge of towns, but unlike in Spain, it does not always go into the middle of them, to the church, or past any potable water sources. Today we were prepared, however, and had a nice picnic of baguette, cheese, and chocolate at a nice spot with a view. For much of the afternoon, we were walking down a dirt track...

Coincidences and Conversations Chemin Saint-Jacques  This morning we shared a communal breakfast in the little attic room under the roof of Lou Cantou and then set out on GR46 , headed for Labastide-Murat. It was a beautiful walk down the valley again, with the sunrise lighting up the town of Rocamadour and the side of the valley. It was a steep climb out of the gorge, but it was shaded with trees and not as long as we had expected. There followed a relatively pleasant walk along shaded dirt tracks through the countryside.   At one point we arrived at another detour to GR46, which actually ended up being a shortcut of sorts (we think). Instead of walking approximately 3km of roadways, we cut across a bend in the road and took a nice shaded track alongside a newly logged area. When the alternate route ended the trail passed under a very busy highway, and we had to climb a very steep, very bright, gravel path up a large hill. By this time it was very hot, ...